The Mentalist takes top honors for the week. Please note that the absence of an 18-49 ranking merely means the show was not among the top twenty-five shows (all we saw data for) among 18-49 year olds. The top twenty rankings for 18-49 year olds are different enough from this list that you might want to give it a look...
Nielsen Top Twenty Shows by viewers for the week ending 12/07/08:
| Rank | Shows | R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere | Net | # Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000) | HH RATING (LIVE+SD) | HH SHARE (LIVE+SD) | 18-49 Rank |
| 1 | Mentalist, THE | CBS | 18,742 | 11.6 | 18 | 14 | |
| 2 | NCIS | CBS | 18,518 | 11.5 | 18 | 16 | |
| 3 | CSI | CBS | 17,476 | 10.7 | 16 | 6 | |
| 4 | OT, THE | FOX | 16,220 | 9.6 | 16 | 1 | |
| 5 | DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES | ABC | 16,088 | 9.9 | 15 | 2 | |
| 6 | GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM | ABC | 15,279 | 10.0 | 15 | 3 | |
| 7 | 60 Minutes | CBS | 13,794 | 8.8 | 14 | ||
| 8 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | R | CBS | 13,630 | 8.6 | 13 | 11 |
| 9 | NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL | NBC | 13,286 | 8.1 | 13 | 4 | |
| 10 | BARBARA WALTERS PRESENTS(S) | S | ABC | 13,191 | 8.7 | 15 | 9 |
| 11 | SURVIVOR: GABON | CBS | 12,727 | 7.5 | 12 | 12 | |
| 12 | HOUSE | FOX | 12,517 | 7.5 | 12 | 5 | |
| 13 | WITHOUT A TRACE | CBS | 12,319 | 8.0 | 13 | ||
| 14 | HALLMARK HALL OF FAME(S) | S | CBS | 11,880 | 7.6 | 12 | |
| 15 | RUDOLPH RED-NOSE REINDEER(S) | SR | CBS | 11,815 | 6.2 | 10 | 8 |
| 16 | HOW GRINCH STOLE XMAS-1(S) | SR | ABC | 11,414 | 5.9 | 9 | 15 |
| 17 | Law And Order | NBC | 11,309 | 7.5 | 13 | ||
| 18 | CSI: MIAMI | R | CBS | 11,158 | 7.5 | 13 | |
| 19 | SHREK THE HALLS(S) | SR | ABC | 11,144 | 6.2 | 9 | 24 |
| 20 | ELEVENTH HOUR | CBS | 10,864 | 7.0 | 12 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
All numbers above based on live plus same day DVR viewing.
They should do a spinoff of Desperate Housewives called Henpecked Husbands
CBS has really done a great job with their programming schedule. Their long in the tooth and freshman shows for the most part seem to be doing quite well.
Wow. I can’t believe NCIS is ahead of CSI — but I love them both so who cares!
I didn’t expect to see The Mentalist at the top of the ple. What is it about the show that has caught on with viewers?